Starfall
by Elestes
Summary: Arriving in a new universe was odd, being taken hostage on the first day unusual. So I joined C-Sec hoping for stability only to be thrust into a web of crime, crazy politics and a game of deception controlling every facet of my life. All the while being chased by the shadow of a past I didn't own.


Chapter 1. Advent

Life always seemed to be playing a game with me. The last time I closed my eyes I never expected to open them again. I was of the belief that everything ended at death. It was easy to imagine the shock I felt at opening them again, all of it as quick as a blink.

They weren't looking up at some pearly gates or the doors of hell. Instead I saw something that only existed in fiction. In fact I was so sure I was dreaming I began running down the checklist to make sure I wasn't.

First I pinched myself, then blinked multiple times, finally I shook my head. As a last resort I even slapped myself in the face. None of it worked leading me to conclude that what I saw wasn't a dream. As a side note if it was I would have induced a lucid dream and I was horrible at maintaining them.

"Holy Tentacles of Cthulhu, I'm on the Citadel." The one and only from Mass Effect, which just happened to be my favorite Sci-fi gaming series.

The five arms stretched out like massive mountains before me. At 13 km long they dwarfed any mountains I had ever seen or heard of. The violet widow nebulae and the countless stars spattered across it made everything more surreal. Finally the hundreds of ships floating through space nailed the point home.

I was in the Mass Effect universe. It was that simple, the how or why didn't matter, all that did was my presence there. What to me was a life changing realization was to others just a gawking tourist, albeit a stupid one who had just slapped himself.

Speaking of the many passersby I dared not turn around. What awaited me was a culture shock of the highest degree. After gathering my breath for several seconds and building my courage I turned.

Aliens of all kind walked past me lost in their own little worlds. Asari, Turian, Salarian, all of them from the game were there. All of them were living people, free thinking creatures that weren't human.

I felt myself start to panic slightly but when I saw the familiar faces of my own species I calmed down. Even amidst aliens across the stars humanity lived on. If others did it then so could I.

Judging by all the ships I could see docked and hundreds of people leaving or entering I was in a docking area. Looking about I spotted several large signs reading C-Sec customs. That was my entry into the Citadel proper- that was if I had I.D as an Alliance citizen.

I searched my clothes and noted they were different from what I normally wore. The dark blue cargo pants felt smoother to the touch alongside the white undershirt and black hoody. The material seemed very tough and weather proof. My search ended up empty and I was at a dilemma.

I had no I.D. and was stuck in a transit zone. Then I realized I should have had an Omni-tool. If I had been supplied clothing in my trip but no physical I.D I was likely to have a virtual one.

Surely enough on my left wrist was a small metallic band with several holes in it. On it read LOGIC ARREST V, a model from the games if memory served me right. There was also a fingerless glove and on it was a small logo. A yellow sun rising with rectangular bars representing the orange sky.

I was giddy at the prospect of using the advanced piece of technology. I tried to press the glove, slide my finger along the bracelet, none of it worked. It definitely wasn't that intuitive for a piece of future tech.

I considered asking someone for help but couldn't manage to. I had always been shy around strangers, now that more than half were aliens I was terrified at the prospect of speaking to one.

I half expected for it to turn on as I stretched my fingers slightly and willed it to do so in my mind. Then to my surprise the holographic interface familiar to so many fans appeared. I was ecstatic.

The hologram was of such high quality I had trouble thinking it wasn't real. I touched the orange light and received haptic feedback. Pulling back my hand I looked at the fingertips for any sensors, not finding any I assumed they were likely beneath the skin.

It took me a few seconds to get used to the sensation. Having a physical presence being simulated was very helpful in navigating the thing. The circle part contained a ring of folders all under standard categories.

One was titled 'My Computer' which I tapped, and then a thin colored hologram projected itself from the orange part on my forearm. It reminded me a lot of a smart phones layout.

There were only three icons. One was titled the Extra-Net; second Apps and the third I.D. The urge to browse the net was very powerful; I mean all kinds of wonders awaited me. But the rational part of my mind prevailed and I opened the last folder and was prompted with a voice recognition prompt.

"Hello?" I asked it and the prompt turned green revealing a second one, that was rather easy, though it'd get annoying doing it all the time. The second one asked for a written password. I tapped the text box and a second projection this one perpendicular to the screen appeared displaying a keyboard.

I typed up my email's previous known password and it worked again. Finally the file unlocked itself to my joy. The I.D. itself was another application. I opened it and found a 3-D model of me off to the side. Each time I typed the words I saw my fingerprints being highlighted as well. Security was really thorough.

"Systems Alliance." I read out to myself the text next to citizenship. Elated I quickly walked towards the customs agent, in hindsight a stupid choice, as I didn't know how to operate the device. Little did I know that walk would be such a weird experience.

As I went past a Salarian I could see how slimy and froglike their skin was. Their massive black eyes also unnerved me a great degree. Switching gazes I found myself looking at an Asari.

They were beautiful in an exotic sort of way. But the hair tentacles were too much; they just made me feel uncomfortable. The Asari noted my stare and gave me a polite smile, I turned away embarrassed.

I almost bumped into a Turian but maneuvered out of his way. They were all very tall, most standing above 6 feet. Their skin reminded me of a lobster's or an ant's. Made sense as they had exoskeletons, though there's seemed just a tad bit softer?

My eyes were whirling all over the place but quickly landing again at the customs area. Focusing I quickly walked over and stood in the oddly short line. The agent was an Asari and a family of humans was in front of me.

That gave me an odd sense of relief as I could observe them display their I.D. The agent asked for them and to my horror the father and mother gave the agent physical cards. She looked them over and let them through the door.

"Next." She called out her voice pleasant to the ear. Nervously I walked up and re-opened the app. Nervously I tried to look for a send button. I found none and froze. "Your I.D please?"

"Uh, right here just give me a sec." I hastily said and wanted to smack myself. I clearly sounded nervous. That to a customs agent meant I was either new or to a TSA agent meant hiding something and requiring a nine-hour detention/interrogation.

"Are you having trouble sir?" She asked again in that calming voice. But it was filled with a note of dry amusement. That made me want to prove to her I wasn't incompetent but I was failing horribly. Deciding to suck my pride in I asked for her help.

"Just got an Omni-tool, I'm still new at this I.D display thing." I said and heard a chuckle from behind me. It had a flanging effect to it so most likely a cheeky Turian.

"That's understandable, could you show me the screen?" She asked and I moved my body to the side to display the screen. The Turian behind me laughed even more, I was really starting to hate the sound of this one's multi toned laugh. "You could've just flipped the display." She said amused but quickly looked through the App and punched in a few numbers.

"Am I good?" I asked hoping to God it was a yes so I wouldn't have to face further embarrassment.

"All seems well, you're good to go Mr. Lowe, welcome to the Citadel." I turned towards the door before she spoke up again. "Oh, I'd also advise you to look up some Extranet vids on galactic travel." When she said that the Turian chuckled even more. I just gave a forced smile and went through the door.

I walked through a long hall and went through another door. Exiting it I came across a large space with a massive sign up high reading Zakera Ward. I then realized it was the exact same as the one from Mass Effect 2.

True enough to my right side was a C-Sec office. Up ahead was Avina the holographic VI who'd answer any questions I had. At the moment I didn't have any so I found a bench in the corner to sit down. I then began to learn how the device operated to avoid any further embarrassment at my technical ineptitude.

As I sat there I learned many useful things. First was the date, January the 1st 2177, a full five years before the events of the first game began. It was certainly a lot of time in which I could prepare myself to join Shepard's crew. I'd be 23 when the series began, on the younger end of the spectrum. Besides most self inserts had that goal in mind but I was conflicted about it.

If I didn't join Shepard and found a safe place to hide the Galaxy would still be saved. My intervention at best would minimize some of the deaths surrounding Shepard or at worst increase them. It was a hard choice, one I didn't plan making on a bench. I filed it away for later.

Three events would be happening before the story began. Akuze this year, the next was Torfan and last the end of the Anhur rebellions. Intervening in the former two would be difficult and if Shepard was involved in them it would be even harder.

Out of curiosity I looked up Shepard and found nothing. That meant he or she wasn't a war hero, so Akuze or Torfan. I hoped for the former, as a renegade Shepard would do much harm.

I knew who was going to win in the rebellion so if I invested money well a decent profit could be made. Again curious I looked up news about it and the slavers and abolitionists were in a deadlock at Anhur. But the slavers held the temporary advantage due to superior firepower via their spaceships.

But the abolitionist would soon hire Eclipse mercenaries in massive numbers to eventually win according to canon. An investment in the company was wise alongside many reconstruction industries who'd experience a boom following the war.

I looked at the time and realized 3 hours had passed. I wasn't hungry at the moment but had a few hundred credits to my account, 350 in fact. The amount was equivalent to that many dollars. It could get me through a few days; problem was I couldn't just aimlessly wander about the station.

I needed a job. If this was like a standard Self Insert finding one wasn't going to be all that difficult. If I was lucky, one may have even been lined up for me already.

Joining C-Sec was what I wished the most. It would adequately train me to be ready to join Shepard's squad if I wanted. There was also a chance of meeting Garrus, in fact he may not have been a part of C-Sec, after all I was 5 years in the past.

Thing was a Reaper invasion was going to happen no matter what I did. I needed to be trained in some form of combat in order to survive.

But joining the force was next to impossible without any sponsorship from the Systems Alliance. If I had been given new clothes an Omni-tool I might have even had a prebuilt identity.

Deciding to test my luck I went over to the small C-Sec station that I had passed by earlier. Looked exactly like the one Bailey was stationed in, sadly he wasn't there. Only several Turians, one Asari and Salarian. No humans, which was normally a bad sign.

In this case the positive was more would be hired because in the lore they were the second most represented species on the force. Maybe I could slip into the wave that was to follow?

"Excuse me sir?" I asked the Turian manning a computer closest to the door.

"Ah, what can I do for you sir?" He asked politely looking up at me. It would take me a long time to get used to a Turian's voice.

"I was wondering if I could find out how to apply for C-Sec?" I said hoping I didn't sound like an idiot, but when he looked at me surprised I knew I did. I mean no one just went about asking such stupid questions, well except for me.

"Uh, well do you have any experience in law enforcement? Better yet a sponsorship from the Human embassy?"

"Not that I know of, could you check?" I asked and he nodded. "Aaron Lowe is my name." I then held my breath and crossed my fingers.

"You're not in the database." He said after a few seconds. Immediately I felt dejected, if I couldn't join the law enforcement what could I do to prepare? Being a mercenary would to often put me on the wrong side of the law. "You could try the normal application process, if you feel you have the skill." He offered noticing my mood.

"Sure, is there any form I have to fill out?" He handed me a tablet and told me to sit at a bench nearby to fill it out. It was fairly extensive reminding me a lot of my university loan application. Thankfully it recognized my Omni-tool and majority of the info was automatically filled in.

The only section I left blank was my service history and special skills. I felt those sections were the most important ones, but there was nothing I could do about them. Sighing I handed back the tablet.

"So when can I expect a result?" I asked.

"A week at the most, we'll contact you about it." He finished going back to his work. "Though I'd advise you to apply for some other job."

I felt my anger boil at him saying that. But I bit it down and left, he was just being honest. I wasn't amazingly fit, sure I walked around my campus a lot but that didn't make me an athlete.

Then I heard several gunshots and screams and did the 'reasonable' thing. I stood there gaping like an idiot just waiting to be killed. This was the first time I had been in a shoot out so the reaction was slightly justifiable. So slightly that it bordered on stupidity.

Several armored individuals shot their way down the hall and sealed off the rear door. One Turian C-Sec officer reached for his gun but was killed immediately by a Batarian who seemed to be their leader. I hoped it was a quick death.

"Everyone one the ground! All of you in this C-Sec station are now my hostages!" Shouted the Batarian waving his gun around. When they caught site of me all four narrowed. "Humans over there!" He pointed at the corner off to the side.

I stood there too terrified to move. I debated whether I should have ran out the door but then realized I'd just get shot, I should've done that earlier. I followed the instructions and was shoved onto my knees.

There were around a dozen of them, all Batarian. Some went into another room and came out with several more people. Two of them were humans, an old man and a guy near my age. They too were shoved near me.

They all moved to secure positions and locked down all the doors. Four stood near us, their guns did little to ease my heart. It felt like it was about to explode.

Six of them kept watch over the alien group; the separation wasn't a good sign. Batarian and Human relations were frosty, but I had never heard of a hostage situation happening in the game's history. My mere existence was already changing events, or maybe this was just an insignificant one? I didn't know.

"Get me a line to the Human Embassy!" The leader blared. Then I noticed another lackey setting up a floating camera. "Ambassador Udina, you have five hours to give into our demands, the first is removing all humans from the Skyllian Verge!"

His shouting was getting really annoying to me as I calmed down. He had the type of voice that made your ears bleed if they spoke too loudly. His demands just boiled down to The Alliance giving up colonization rights in the Verge and reduced presence at its border worlds. He was stupid enough to mention Elysium, which pinned him as a slaver, or more commonly referred to as a Class-A asshole.

"If you don't accept my demands in five hours time I will execute every single human I have!" He finally finished and looked at us three smirking. "And trust me I will make them suffer." That unnerved me a great deal looking at the other two it did the same thing, they were both C-Sec officers, which was weird, as one expected them to be tougher than that.

The leader then sat down on a chair and stayed silent waiting for a reply. No one dared to speak so the atmosphere had become very tense. Even the terrorists didn't speak a lot.

"I'm getting bored bring one of the humans over!" He finally said after several minutes. Of all people I was grabbed and shoved down in front of him. "Where you from human?" He asked cupping my chin and looking at me.

"The Earth." I simply stated, had I mentioned his breath stank like dead horse, face looked like one as well. "You know where nearly all of humanity is from." As soon as I said that he punched me across the face. The metal parts of his gloves dug into my skin and sent me crashing into the floor.

I felt very disoriented, as my head had whipped back due to the blow. After a few blinks a dull pain throbbed on the left side of my face. I also felt some stinging as I gained a few cuts as well. Thankfully my nose wasn't hit, I wasn't in the mood of fixing it.

I may have been a quiet kid normally, but when stressed tended to lash out. I looked up at him with a great amount of hate. For some reason I felt the urge to whip my right arm towards him, maybe to beat the shit out of him. I didn't do that and instead focused on the pain to prevent me from doing something that stupid.

"Learn to hold your tongue human!" He then kicked me in the stomach; I saw it coming and tensed my ribs. It still hurt a great deal and I exaggerated my reaction slightly to prevent another. "Remember I control your life."

The Alliance and C-Sec also controlled his, if they were anything like governments I knew they'd be preparing a rescue op.

I was thrown back into the corner with the other two who gave me worried glances. The old man just patted my shoulder. I gave him a grateful nod.

The minutes passed by and the leader rejected attempts at a time extension. I tried to think of an escape plan in the time.

The room we were in had two doors; the one leading to the dock was completely sealed off and had a makeshift barricade in front of it. The one leading to the ward proper was also closed and covered by 2 guards.

That was my exit ticket, but the only way I could escape was with a distraction. But I didn't have any means of creating one. I was near nothing but flat metallic ground and the other two humans. They were disarmed, only the four armored guards watching over us had assault rifles.

Time went by and I grew more used to the situation. It was chilling in a way; my life was on the line yet I felt calm. I spent the time just focusing on my breathing; I had nothing else to do. They didn't let us talk; the only Asari found out the hard way and received a thorough beating.

"I will release the Salarian as an act of good faith." He said at the four hour mark and nodded to both guards. The door opened and all terrorists took cover, I could hear a lot of hushed noises from the other side and a flashing red and blue light.

That was oddly familiar and relaxed me. Even in the Citadel the police used red and blue, maybe humans introduced it. The Salarian took several steps and once out ran towards C-Sec from what little I could see.

Then I noticed something or rather felt it. The air suddenly felt different, charged was the only way of describing it. The only Asari suddenly glowed blue and blasted one of the guards across the room with biotics. The very one who beat her.

She leapt over the desk with a sense of grace that instilled hope in me. I thought in that moment that we could survive the encounter, but as quickly as she leapt over and tried to make a break for it she was riddled with bullets.

I immediately looked away and heard a thump followed by the door closing. Looking back up the body was nowhere in sight, most likely beyond the door. What I did see was the purple blood splattered across the floor and desk.

"Poor lass…" The old man muttered shaking his head. "Always was a quick spirited one."

I realized if I had tried to escape that would have been me, except I didn't seem to have the benefit of Biotic, meaning an even quicker death.

"That's what happens when you oppose me!" The leader roared with laughter and everything was back to square one, even the guard she hurled across the room was standing up again. "Udina you have one hour or I kill your citizens!"

Time ticked closer towards our apparent deaths. Or theirs I was confident a raid was being planned, killing a hostage was always a signal that negotiations had broken down. Unfortunately the Batarian realized this.

His men set up the camera again and pushed the younger human towards it. He made him kneel with hands behind his back, a standard execution position. The guy looked up in terror his eyes darting around hoping for some salvation.

It was a sick kind of show. From what I had heard the camera broadcasted the feed on a Youtube like equivalent. They might have actually been making money from the ad revenue. The world was a twisted place.

"This is your fault Udina for not acting quick enough."

He then made eye contact with me. They pleaded to be saved. To be given a chance to live. I knew he was as old as me and had dreams. I wanted to help him but couldn't summon the strength.

I broke eye contact and heard the gunfire followed by a thud. I kept my eyes looking at the ground. Guilt consumed me; I didn't do anything to save him. My hesitation ended his life.

But then I tried to rationalize it. Could I have done something in the first place? If I did I would have ended up dead like the Asari. My head started to hurt as the stress kept building up.

I even resorted to praying which was odd as an agnostic. I hoped the force that brought me here wouldn't end my life so soon.

"You have five seconds Udina!" He said losing all sense of reason. Then I was forced to kneel in front of him and the camera. I closed my eyes.

"Five." He said making my eyes snap open. I felt terrified.

"Four." My heart thumped loudly. I didn't want to die.

"Three." I wanted to live. I wouldn't let someone else dictate my fate!

"Two." I felt my body surge with energy. I felt more charged. The energy pooled into my right and left hands. Wisps of blue emerged with a dense white portion on my hands.

"One-" I cut him off as my body moved into action. I began turning around and rising up. I felt the bullet tear through my shoulder. The adrenaline pumping through my system ignored the pain.

In that moment I had only one purpose and that was to live.

I slammed both of my hands into his chest and he went flying. His back hit the makeshift barricade with a satisfying thud. The door behind me leading to the wards suddenly opened as I came falling to the ground.

I stayed down as I heard gunfire erupt and in seconds it was all gone. The pain returned and I bit down a scream. It was a burning pain. I hated it.

Then all of a sudden I found myself turned over. The person who did so I couldn't recognize as they wore a helmet. They were doing something to my shoulder and all of a sudden the pain went away.

I was quickly pulled up and ushered towards what appeared to be an ambulance. Looking around there was a massive police presence. In the distance I could see news teams and a large crowd.

When I was placed into the vehicle everything became a blur. Soon enough I found myself in Huerta Memorial Hospital. A doctor quickly did a check up on me. It was surreal when he said I'd be fine just had to rest my right shoulder for a day. My face wasn't hurt that badly which was fortunate.

I had been shot and patched up in a matter of minutes. Even odder I had all the vaccinations for a citizen of this era. He even did a check up on my biotic implant and grew confused.

"What is this implant model? L5X? Is it experimental?" He asked me. I was just as shocked, that model was from Mass Effect 2 and specifically the one Cerberus put in an adept Shepard. Who ever had sent me here set me up with a powerful implant.

"It is." I simply stated and hoped he wouldn't press further. He then looked at the amp, which was a decent Polaris X. The fact that I had a military grade amp in me didn't bother him that much.

To me the bigger shock was that I was a Biotic. It was a massive advantage and it was a wanted commodity, The Alliance paid a lot to recruit them. Hopefully it would be enough to get me into C-Sec.

When using them on that Batarian it felt like I had access to limbs I didn't have. Thinking back on it my control wasn't good. It was like using your arms to lift a heavy load they weren't used to. The implant and amp assisted in that, if I had shittier ones I doubted I would have been able to do that.

The implant helped you gain access to your eezo nodules; I didn't exactly know what the amp did. I needed to do more research.

More importantly I didn't want more tragedies like the one I experienced to happen. Joining C-Sec was a way to do so. To the politicians it was a success the operation only had one casualty. Speaking of politicians as soon as I left the doctor I ran right into a familiar face.

"Ambassador Udina." I simply stated and he gave me one of those manufactured smiles every politician had. This was sure to be interesting.

* * *

**A/N:**

**My first proper attempt at a Mass Effect SI. Chapter 2 will be slightly delayed, expect it in about 2 weeks time, I'll attempt to finish it earlier.**

**Starting out on the Citadel is kinda generic but hopefully the hostage situation spiced things up and made this first chapter different than others. As for how he arrived in this universe, he simply doesn't know. All he knows is that he died and he awoke in a different reality. **

**Feedback is appreciated and have a great day.**


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